I've got to relate to you what
just happened to me when I tried to call the Governors office this
afternoon.

While watching a local news
broadcast, I saw a video of Alabama Governor Bentley saying that he
thought anyone who participated in the Secession Petitions were "silly."
This struck me as rather shallow, rude, arrogant and out-of-touch with his own
constituency as the Alabama petition garnered the required 25,000 signatures
rather quickly. One of those signatures was mine. I also thought his immediate
distancing of himself from this issue in such a fashion showed that
1. He possesses little or no understanding of the founding of this country or
it's principles and 2. He wanted to make it perfectly clear to those in
power that he was not willing to stand up for the citizens of Alabama, even if
it was only symbolic in nature. He left no wiggle room...he was in total
disagreement with the Declaration of Independence and would not support those
who do believe in the undeniable truths found in that
document.

I didn't sign the petition
really believing that anything meaningful would come from it. But I did sign it,
and did so for several reasons. 1. I wanted to see if the Obama administration
would honor their pledge to respond to any petition that had at least 25,000
signatures. 2. If they responded, I was very interested in HOW they would
respond. Would they too ignore the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution? 3. I thought it might serve as a reminder to big government that
"We the People" are still rightly in charge of this country despite what
politicians of both parties might think. 4. I signed the petition to remind the
people of this country that "freedom of self-determination", freedom of
secession, is still an inalienable right granted by God and though it may be
DENIED by government, it can NEVER be abolished by man.

I called Governor Bentley's
office to let him know that there were Alabama residents who considered his
remark, our being "silly", as offensive as the remark made by President Obama;
that remark referring to us as backward for "clinging to our guns and
Bibles."

A secretary answered the phone
and I introduced myself by name and added that I was 65 years old and a lifelong
resident of the State of Alabama. I asked the secretary if she would give the
Governor a message for me. She agreed. I told her I was offended by the
Governor's remark that we who signed the Secession Petition were "silly."
Immediately the secretary became combative and began telling me that
Bentley believed in the United States of America. I reminded her that if
self-determination, secession in this particular instance, was not a
God-given inalienable right of all people, the United States of
America would not even exist; we would all still be a part of the British
Empire. I quoted the Declaration of Independence to her as she tried to
talk over my voice. She kept re-iterating that Bentley believed in the United
States. When she stopped talking over me, I told her again that this country was
founded on the right of self-determination. She launched into another tirade of
nationalistic propaganda to which I replied, "Oh, so if we all find
ourselves members of the Third Reich, whether we wanted it or not, we have
no alternative but to salute Hitler and shout "Sig Heil!" This set her off
again.

At this point I told her, "Look,
I didn't call here to have you validate my opinions or to engage in debate. I
called for you to pass along to Governor Bentley for me, an Alabama citizen, a
point of view. I don't care if he agrees with me or not." She would not let go
of the nationalistic propaganda or defending Bentley. She told me that we
were all a part of the United States and that's the way the Founders wanted it. I
reminded her of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution. I also told her
that the Founders gave us a democratic republic and wished us good luck in
keeping it. I told her that we had failed in keeping it, and that the government
they gave us died in 1865. I told her that she apparently had little
understanding of American history or of government. At some point during my
last remarks, she hung up on me. A state employee, paid by my tax dollars to
pass on to Governor Bentley the opinions of the citizens of the State of
Alabama, hung up on me.

I started to call back but
decided it would be useless, counter-productive and might get me arrested for
harassment. But I see this is part of the big overall problem. We elect them and
pay them with our tax dollars...rather nicely too, I might add. They in turn
isolate themselves in their towers of government, free from hearing or dealing
with any opinion they do not wish to acknowledge. They are the ruling elite
much like in the feudal days...and if we displease them or disagree with them
too vehemently, they will throw us and our families from their land to starve.
Sig Heil.

Senator
Jon Tester (D-MT) -- who is “F”
rated by Gun Owners of America -- is pushing a “hunting” bill that
authorizes the Obama administration almost unlimited power to seize
private lands for
“environmental” purposes.

Anti-gun Majority Leader Harry Reid has scheduled Tester’s bill for a vote, and it will probably take place on Thursday.

(1)
When the “wetlands” provisions of the Clean Water Act were originally
enacted, no one could have foreseen that a landowner would go to prison
for applying clean dirt to a junkyard adjacent to a sewer, which was
determined to be “wetlands.” But environmentalists have been brilliant
in taking seemingly innocuous programs and massively expanding them
through fraudulent interpretations
or tiny loopholes.

(2)
S. 3525 has “sweeteners.” It allows archery bows to be transported
through national parks under very limited circumstances, although Obama
could do this by administrative fiat. It also allows, but does not
mandate, Pittman-Robertson funds to be used for target ranges. But none
of these small discretionary provisions offset the potential damage this
does to the rights of individual landowners.

(3)
THE ISSUE OF LOST OPPORTUNITY: If this is the Democrats’ sop to gun
owners, it may make it a lot more difficult to secure national concealed
carry reciprocity or to stop anti-gun measures
and treaties.

THE CENTRAL PROBLEM WITH S. 3525

The
central problem with the bill is that it allows seizure of private
lands for “aquatic habitats” [Sections 201(8) and 204 (d) (2)]. The
definition of this term is limitless and includes seizure of lands in
order to “protec[t] the quality and quantity of water sources” and to
“serv[e] as a buffer protecting the aquatic environment.” [Section 201
(2)]

Thus,
a factory that “pollutes” can be seized to protect an “aquatic
habitat.” The only real limit on seizure in Section 204 is the
requirement that the government manage the
seized property “in accordance with the purposes of this subtitle.”

WHO ARE THE DECISION
MAKERS?

The National Fish
Habitat Board consists of 27 members. The initial members (Obama
appointees) select the remaining members. Thus while the “commercial
fishing industry” supposedly has a representative, you can bet that that
fisherman is an Obama-supporter and will support his agenda.

The
board then enters into “partnerships” with, inter alia, outside groups.
And you can bet that every liberal environmental organization in the
country will now be feeding at this pig sty. The outside groups
recommend fish
habitat programs and plans for seizing private lands.

Bottom
line: This will give immense powers to unelected bureaucrats -- a
clear violation of the Separation of Powers which our Founders
implemented as a way of protecting our rights.

WHAT ABOUT SECTION 211 (e) (2)?

This
supposedly requires the consent of landowners prior to having their
lands seized. But, note the sneaky loophole: Section 211 (e) (2) applies
only to property that is being seized with
federal funds and, under Section 204 (e), half the funds need to come
from non-federal sources.

So
while this section is put forward as a “protection,” it actually
doesn’t provide total immunity because the government can take a land
owner’s property using non-federal funds -- and there is no protection
in the bill against that.

There’s
interest from the Forest Service Unmanned Aircraft Systems Advisory
Group (UASAG) to begin soliciting feedback from potential users of UAS
in the Forest Service. We would welcome any feedback in any format, but
prefer that potential Forest Service UAS users participate in the
online Forest Service
UAS Information Needs Assessment Survey (link below).

We’re
asking you (all UASAG members) to distribute this survey to individuals
within your deputy, staff, or application area. Use your discretion as
to who you think should participate in this survey.

Additionally,
we’ve generated a note (below) that you can provide to all individuals
who you would like to complete the survey. The note provides an
overview of who we are and why we are soliciting their mission
requirements information.

Don’t hesitate to contact Tom Zajkowski or me if you have any questions.

The
Forest Service recently chartered the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)
Advisory Group, an
interdisciplinary committee formed to 1) explore the use of UAS and
associated technologies for their potential to support operational needs
throughout the Forest Service; and 2) recommend necessary aviation
policy modifications related to the acquisition, lease and use of UAS
within the agency.The Advisory Group is currently researching UAS
and related technologies, interfacing with interagency partners, and
determining the need to expand current USFS policy on the use of UAS
over National Forest System lands. One component of these efforts is to
perform an agency-wide UAS information needs assessment to identify
observation requirements necessary to fulfill Forest Service operational
objectives and strategic goals, but are not being attained using manned
aircraft and/or satellite observations. In addition to observation
requirements, this needs assessment also intends to catalog other
potential niche applications (enhanced communications
capability, payload delivery, etc.) that may not safely or effectively
be accomplished using manned aircraft.To assist the UAS Advisory
Group in inventorying potential observation requirements and
applications, we request that you, or a representative of your staff,
complete the Forest Service UAS information needs assessment survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/.
It will be necessary to complete the survey once for every unique
requirement or mission, and most missions should take no more than 20
minutes to complete. Please complete the survey before December 31,
2012. For clarification regarding any of the questions on the survey,
or for general technical assistance, please contact Tom Zajkowski 801-975-3758 or Adrian Grell 801-975-3833 at the Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC).In
the near
future, a summary of the information acquired through this exercise
will be compiled by the UAS Advisory Group. This summary will be posted
and available for review from the UAS Advisory Group website that will
eventually be accessible from RSAC’s main website (http://fsweb.rsac.fs.fed.us).

John Kerry, a medal-faking charlatan, may become Obama’s new Secretary of Defense. One fraud attracts another.

In
2004, just prior to the presidential election, I wrote an excoriating
open letter to Kerry. The Swift-boaters sent it far and wide. A friend
of mine sent it throughout the key states of Ohio and Florida. He says
it may be what turned the election in Bush’s favor. I wouldn’t go that
far, but I do believe the letter needs to be republished. It appears
below in abbreviated form. Please send it to those you think need to
read it.

An Open Letter to Senator John F. Kerry

October 19, 2004

Dear Senator Kerry,

I
never met my uncle Will. He was a lieutenant in the Navy during WWII.
He was killed in action on his PT boat in the Pacific. For his fatal
wounds, he received the Purple Heart posthumously.
The
first-captain of my West Point class took a bullet through the heart
while leading a South Vietnamese airborne battalion into combat. For
this fatal wound, he was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously.

My
senior year roommate at West Point became a tunnel rat. A booby trap
explosion killed him in the tunnels of Duc Pho. The army awarded him the
Purple Heart posthumously. My plebe year roommate lost an eye and
became permanently crippled. For his extensive wounds, he received the
Purple Heart.

My battalion commander in Vietnam was one of the
bravest men I ever knew. He went out ahead of the troops in his light
observation helicopter to find and kill enemy before they had a chance
to fire on his men. That’s how he died. For his fatal wounds, he
received the Purple Heart posthumously.
My words pale in their
import compared to the terse comment of a high school classmate of mine.
We played lacrosse together in Baltimore. He went to the Naval Academy
and upon graduation became a marine. This past July at our annual
lacrosse crab feast, I asked him what he thought of your Purple Hearts.
He said, “Bob, nine of us lieutenants went over there together, and only
three of us came back. All three of us who survived spent at least a
month in the hospital recovering from wounds we suffered in combat.”

You
didn’t need any recovery time from your three alleged “wounds.” How
does one get “wounded” and yet not need to recover from those “wounds”?
With wounds comes suffering. Where was your suffering? How could you
merit a Purple Heart when you weren’t even a casualty? You did not earn
your Purple Hearts; you wrangled them from the system through deception
so you could go home early and get out of eight months of combat. That
is despicable and shameless. During the democratic convention, your
flagrant, boastful show of your “heroism” gave the impression that you
had been a man in the thick of combat, when in fact, you had been a man
on the very edge of it, all the while slyly conniving your way out of
it. Instead of “Reporting for duty,” you should have said, “Derelict in
my duty.” I marvel at your pomposity, and at the astonishing facility
with which you present your phony war record as fact to the American
people.

Let’s compare your wounds with those of a West Point
classmate of mine and his men. As my classmate directed artillery fire
onto suspected enemy positions, shrapnel from an enemy mortar ripped
into his leg. A medivac chopper took him to the American Division field
hospital. When he returned to his company two weeks later, many new
faces met him: The lieutenant who had taken over had marched the company
into a u-shaped ambush resulting in two-thirds of the men being killed
or wounded. Those wounded in that battle did not have to put themselves
in for the Purple Heart, as you did, Senator Kerry.

You exhibit
the characteristics of a Narcissist. Narcissus, for whom this malignant
character defect is named, fell in love with his image in a pool of
water. As with Narcissus, your image has become the focus of your life.
This image of yourself with which you are enamored, so greedy for
recognition and praise, is only two dimensional: it has breadth and
width, but no depth. And while your image may appear grand and heroic on
the surface, there is no substance to it. My high school marine friend
and my West Point classmate, true heroes, didn’t take movie cameras with
them to Viet Nam, but you did—with the express purpose of recording
your imaginary exploits and feeding your grandiose image of yourself.

The
truth is you faked combat wounds in Viet Nam, and your actions were
devious and self-serving. You were a “Purple Heart hunter,” just as the
Swift Boat Vets say. Narcissus was an actor, and so are you.

I
don’t understand how any veteran, or any member of a veteran’s family,
or any sane-thinking American could even consider voting for you—a man
who faked Purple Hearts in wartime. A man who will fake Purple Hearts
for the sake of glorifying his image has no integrity and misdefines
truth as whatever enhances the power and prestige of that image. A man
without depth and substance stands for anything and everything—so long
as his image is glorified. Narcissists such as you cannot be trusted;
and they can be very dangerous, especially when they become paranoid
about protecting their image, especially when they occupy positions of
great authority and consequence. The issues in this election are
truthfulness and character, and you lack both.

Your deceit is an
explicit slur upon my uncle Will’s Purple Heart award, and you mock all
other veterans who made the supreme sacrifice or suffered genuine wounds
in combat throughout our nation’s history. Your rise to prominence is
based upon your abominably perverse desecration of our ideals; you have
trivialized and demeaned the sacred and the solemn, and no amount of
fluent sophistry or braggart pretense can cover it up.

Your
conduct goes far beyond dereliction of duty. You betrayed your comrades
in Viet Nam; you betrayed the trust of antiwar veterans, and now your
self-fabricated credentials and continued lies contaminate the political
process.

Remember the professor a few years ago who lied about
being a Viet Nam veteran? His college reprimanded and suspended him for
foisting such an abominable sham upon a few hundred students. I ask you
in closing, Senator Kerry, what punishment is fitting for a man who
fabricates medals as sacrosanct as the Purple Heart, and who continues
to lie about his Viet Nam service to the entire world?

As Mike Farris previously indicated,
we are working all-out to halt ratification of the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a United Nations treaty that would
dictate domestic law and end traditional parental rights in America.
Today we have introduced a petition specifically for those with
disabilities, or who are parents or family members of children with
disabilities.

If you suffer a disability or are the family member of a child with special needs, I urge you to please take a moment to sign the online petition here.

If you know of others with special needs, make sure they know
about this issue and urge them to sign the petition as well.

If you are not sure whether or not your child or family member
qualifies as a “person with a disability,” keep this in mind: the treaty does not define “disability.”If
it is conceivable that your family member could be so designated, then
it is conceivable the parents’ rights to make decisions for that child
could be relegated to government bureaucrats through this treaty. If that is the case, we welcome you to sign the petition.

Joni & Friends, a support organization for persons with
disabilities which was founded by Christian speaker, artist, and author
Joni Eareckson Tada, also issued a statement today opposing U.S.
ratification of the treaty. You can read that statement from our new
petition page or by clicking here.

If you do not have a family member with a disability or special
needs, please do not sign this particular petition – but please pass it
on to those who do. Then, stay alert for more action items in the coming
days and weeks as our efforts continue.

Thank you for supporting parental rights and our work to halt the ratification of this dangerous treaty.

The Baby Jesus will have a bit more company in the Nativity on Christmas Day — President Obama and the First Lady.

Figurine replicas of the president and first lady will appear in
Italian nativity scenes alongside Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Reuters
reported. Naples craftsmen are selling the figurines in advance of
Christmas.

“The ones we are selling the most of are those of Barack Obama,
America’s new president, along with his wife Michelle, craftsman Genny
Di Virgilio told Reuters.

There are also figurines available of other notables including former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Some locals ridiculed the inclusion of Obama into the Nativity – a nun called it a “cartoon version of a nativity scene.”

On the heels of David Petraeus agreeing to testify on the Libya
terror attack, Republican senators on Wednesday stepped up their call to
empanel a "select committee" to investigate the tragedy -- as they
raised concern that the administration's internal review would fall
short.

"Let me be clear: there is no credibility among most of us concerning
the administration and the numerous controversies and
contradictions that have been involved in their handling of this issue,"
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said, at a lengthy news conference on
Capitol Hill.

McCain was joined by Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Kelly Ayotte,
R-N.H., in calling for a temporary Senate committee established
specifically to investigate Libya. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid
later said he would not support their proposal.

The progressive left has made no secret of their hatred for
Congressman Allen West. It will be months until we fully understand the
national coordination and vast resources that were brought to Florida
in an attempt to defeat him at all costs. One group that shifted
resources to his district is Fieldworks.

Defiant and reflective, 80-year-old Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio told Breitbart News after winning re-election that he has a message for President Barack Obama: granting amnesty to illegal immigrants is unfair to legal immigrants.

And Arpaio would like to discuss amnesty -- along with border security issues -- with Obama “man to man” directly at the White House. He would also like to reach out to Hispanic groups he said have misunderstood his intentions and bought into the negative “propaganda” about him.

“I wish the president would invite me to the White House,” Arpaio told Breitbart News. “We’ll have some wine and beer, and light up cigars.”

When it comes to potential amnesty provisions being discussed in Washington, Arpaio said he is against amnesty because, to him, it is a fairness issue the elite media and career politicians in Washington do not understand.

“It's a fairness issue, nobody thinks about that,” Arpaio said. “Why should we reward people who come here illegally?” Arpaio noted that “everybody around the world is waiting for years to come here” and “they don’t all come sneaking in.” “I'm an old-time guy, I just use common sense,” Arpaio said.

Tens of thousands of Americans are now petitioning the White House
wanting to withdraw from the union. Although peoples and regions around
the world are in the process of withdrawing from debt laden, failed
central governments including Scotland, Venice, Catalonia, Bavaria,
Flanders and others, it won't be as easy here in the USA. While the US
petitions generate great PR for the legal right of secession, this is
not the way a state or people legally withdraw from the US union.

First, to secede from the federal union on their own individuals must
leave the US and renounce their citizenship, a very complicated and
expensive process. Second, the legal way for states to withdraw is
individually, state-by-state after conducting a state secession
convention very much like a state constitutional convention on 10th
Amendment issues.

Most of the individual states originally joined the union through
this process and it is how individual states must lawfully leave the
union. This is the same method followed by the individual Confederate States of America when they withdrew one by one following the election of Abraham Lincoln.

The right of democratic state-by-state secession did not die at the
point of a bayonet at Appomattox Court House in 1865 after Lincoln's
invasion killed 600,000 Americans. The growing support for peaceful
devolution of government powers and services to regions and local
jurisdictions to allow citizens to control the power of politicians and
government is a positive advancement for the 21st century. In addition,
the right of devolution of states, geographic regions and groups around
the world promotes government competition and freedom.

I believe legal state secession from the Washington Empire just might
become the only way for American citizens to escape the disastrous
consequences of the coming global run to liquidate holdings of
Washington Treasury obligations and the dollar. Breaking free of the
false chains that threaten our economic future from the likely
Washington debt/dollar collapse might be our last chance to safeguard
our financial security and liberty from the hyperinflation and crushing
new tax increases to be forced on this and future generations from the
bailouts and national debt.

As
the 2012 election approached, conservative enthusiasm grew. Mitt Romney
was drawing huge crowds while Barack Obama spoke in half-filled
stadiums. All the passion lay on the right while the left was
discouraged with a promised messiah who proved merely a politician. And
the prediction was that, in contrast to 2008, Republican turnout would
dwarf the tuned-out and carry the day. Hence the shock November 6 eve.
How could Romney lose, especially by such a wide electoral margin?Maybe he didn'tAt least not legitimately.

Like many other Republicans, I was absolutely shocked by the results of the national election on November 6. For months, I would watch the more dependable polls, I would read the articles by commentators that I have considered to be "on top of" national politics. As the election was "coming down to the wire", I followed those sources even more closely, and like the majority of voters (including many Democrat voters), I believed that it was fairly obvious that a majority of Americans were upset with the direction the country was going, as well as the job performance of Barack Obama. I truly believed by November 6, that the political trends were showing clearly that IF WE HAD A FAIR ELECTION Mitt Romney would be elected by several percentage points and by a decent margin of Electoral College votes; however, I was also aware that there were numerous rumors of efforts by the DNC and others to illegally skew the election results in their favor.

I have witnessed for myself numerous acts of questionable legality and constitutionality by the Obama administration, such as the failure of the DOJ to cooperate in all sorts of congressional investigations, the plethora of Executive Orders issued to bypass Congress in order to push the "Progressive" agenda into action, the questionable legality of "Fast and Furious", the obvious lies by the administration to cover up the Benghazi affair--and these are only a few of the most recent events. I have written to you before about my concerns over the apparent dishonesty of the Democrats' action, and the partisan gridlock in Congress.

In your recent SITREP, you stated, "And while I wish the outcome had been different (very much so), the American people have made their choice and it’s time to get back to doing the hard work of governing." I must disagree.

Congressman, we have all heard and read about the large number of precincts in Philadelphia where "official results" showed that ZERO voters voted for Mitt Romney, and numerous other ones that had in excess of 90% votes for Obama. We have read accounts how some precincts in Ohio reported that more voters had voted for Obama than there were registered voters in the entire precinct.

In September the Columbus Dispatch in Ohio reported this sad and ugly news: "More than one out of every five registered Ohio voters is probably ineligible to vote. In two counties, the number of registered voters actually exceeds the voting-age population: Northwestern Ohio's Wood County shows 109 registered voters for every 100 eligible, while in Lawrence County along the Ohio River it's a mere 104 registered per 100 eligible. Another 31 counties show registrations at more than 90 percent of those eligible, a rate regarded as unrealistic by most voting experts. The national average is a little more than 70 percent."

Clearly, if this sort of fraud has gone on in Philadelphia and Ohio, it has gone on in Florida, and in many other areas of the country. It seems pretty obvious to common sense individuals that the voters did NOT speak in re-electing Barack Obama, but rather a lot of shenanigans perpetrated by unscrupulous people and organizations succeeded in negating the will of a majority of American voters.

Although Mitt Romney graciously conceded defeat, I, personally, have heard nothing about any efforts by Congress or any other empowered entity to investigate what was clearly a fraudulent result, and this seeming lack of interest in this election's outcome is of great concern to me and a lot of other patriotic Americans.

If our election process has become so corrupted and so prone to fraud, and no action is taken by anyone to correct this type of corruption, then our Republic and our American way of life that so many patriots who came before us struggled to preserve has been "sold for seven pieces of silver".

As a U.S. veteran (1964-1992), and a descendant of American patriots since the founding of our Republic, I am more upset than I can convey that this sort of thing is permitted to go unquestioned in our national election process. I ask that you take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that this question of election fraud is vigorously pursued, the results publicized, and, if criminal action is indicated, ensure that the appropriate action is taken to remediate the problem.

Sincerely,

LTC (Ret.) D. A. AnthonyBrooksville, Florida 34602

"All the South has ever desired was that the union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved; and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth." ~ Gen. Robert E. Lee, 1866

Remembrance

Execution of Colonel Ho Ngoc CanLast words: "If I won the war, I would not condemn you as you have condemned me.I would not humiliate you as you have humiliated me.I would not ask you questions that you asked me.I fought for the freedom of my people.I have merit and I am not guilty.No one can convict me.History will criticize you as my Communist enemy.You want to kill me, then kill me.Do not blindfold me.Down with the Communists.Long live the Republic of Viet Nam !"

Colonel CraigMandeville:

“They wanted the people to see that he was dead,” said Craig Mandeville, an American adviser to the South Vietnamese army who fought side by side with Can. “He was believed to be some sort of invincible guy. The North Vietnamese thought that, too, and I even thought that when I fought with him.”

“He said, ‘OK, the country’s fallen, but by God we’re still South Vietnamese and we’re free,’ ” Mandeville recalled. “So he went down to Chuong Tien province and rounded up all these soldiers down there to form a Free Vietnam.”

Col. Can didn’t live long after that, but the legacy of his struggle lives on.

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Core Creek Militia

==============================My sixth great grandfather, his wife, and five of his six children were killed in battle with the Tuscarora Indians at Core Creek, NC.

The Seven Blackbirds

==============================My third great grandfather was an Ensign in the Revolutionary War, and saved his unit's flag after being wounded at the Battle of Brandywine. He was also at Kingston (Kinston), Wilmington, Charleston, Two Sisters and Augusta. He was at the defeat at Brier Creek and also Bee Creek.

Requiem Aeternam -
Eternal Rest Grant unto Them
==============================
My second great grandfather was killed in action on May 3, 1863 at the Battle of Chancellorsville.
=============================
My great grandfather and great uncle knew all the men in the "Civil War Requiem" video as they were part of the 53rd NC which was the sole unit defending Fort Mahone. (Fort Mahone was named "Fort Damnation" by the Yankees) *Handpicked men of the 53rd (My great grandfather was one of these) made the final, night assault at Petersburg in an attempt to break Grant's line. This was against Fort Stedman which was a few miles to the slight northeast. They initially succeeded, but reinforcements drove them back. This video is made from photographs which were taken the day after the 53rd evacuated the lines the night before to begin the retreat to Appomattox. I have many more pictures taken by the same photographer, one of these shows a 14 year old boy and the other is the famous picture of the blond, handsome soldier with his musket.
===========================
*General Gordon promised the men a gold medal and 30 days leave if they accomplished their task and many years after the War my great grandfather wrote General Gordon, who was then governor of Georgia about this incident. They exchanged several letters which I have framed. See first link below.
===========================
*The Attack On Fort Stedman
============================
"His Colored Friends"
============================
Lee's Surrender
=============================
My Black NC Kinfolks
============================
Punished For Being Caught!

Great Grandfather Koonce

He was a drummer boy in the WBTS, survived the War only to die a few years later. He was caught in an ice storm on his way home, but instead of seeking shelter, continued on his horse until the end. His clothes had to be cut off and he died a few days later.